Adobe Road

2005Dry Creek Valley Syrah

Syrah

California: Dry Creek Valley

What we say

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We were lucky to get our hands on this wine, before the winery runs out completely. Today’s allocation is extremely limited, so please act early

Backgrounder: The popularity of Syrah is undeniable. Big and bold in flavor and texture, it packs a concentrated punch of flavor that many people love. This Rhone varietal, although many believe that the grape originated in the Persia region, is 100% French in lineage. The Syrah grape is directly descendant from the Monduese Blanche and Dureza varietals and is grown worldwide with great success. Today’s wine is made from grapes grown in the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, a region known for producing incredible Syrah. Read Agent Reds tasting notes and mission report below for the full story on today’s beautiful Syrah

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – A beautiful and darkly concentrated garnet-to-purple color with a heart of deep garnet. The wine maintains deep color right out to the very edges, and has tightly-spaced legs that take a while to emerge before they move slowly down the glass

Smell – Rich and savory, with dusky but also bright fresh fruit aromatics of blackberry, blueberry and dark cherry, with layers of with smoky black plum, mild truffle, vanilla, anise, plum, oak and soft cedar. Beneath all of that, I detect a really pleasant buttery aroma. It is soft and subtle, but its there – and it works

Feel – The wine hovers across the front-palate, then becomes mouth-coating and smooth with supple medium tannins that make the wine feel lush and elegant

Finish – Soft and then slightly dry with a soft minerality and dark flavors that linger for a long time, giving way to a mouthwatering earthiness that I love

Conclusion – Adobe Road never fails to please us spies, delivering wines that are rich, delicious and refined. With wonderful aromas and flavors, great acid balance, and a really wonderful mouthfeel, this wine is a delicious balanced and deeply lush wine. Fun to drink and ready to drink now, this wine will likely cellar beautifully for several more years. Personally, I don’t think that my own supply of the wine will last that long!

Mission Report:

The following is a republished report of Agent Red’s first encounter with Adobe Road Wines:

I love my missions to France. The wine, the climate and the food all seem to agree with me.

On a recent mission to the French village of Anjou in the Loire Valley (the region in France best known for Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc wines), I was tipped off by a local asset that winery owner and racing legend Kevin Buckler was staying in a hotel neighboring my own.

He was in France for his annual appearance at the world famous auto race, 24 Hours of Le Mans. Kevin and his team drive the incredible Porsche GT3. Kevin is a world-class driver, and he and his team have racked up wins at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (2002) and the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans (2002), an overall win at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (2003), and the title of Porsche World Cup Champion in 2002.

Kevin’s winery, Adobe Road, had been under light surveillance for a few months already and Central Command was preparing to send an Agent to investigate – but I got my own once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet Kevin in his racing element, and Central Command approved my impromptu mission and I extended my stay in France.

I am enough of a Porsche fan to have my own sights set on a 2008 Cayman S. Since I had the brochure with me on my travels I used it as a prop, taking it with me to the hotel restaurant where Kevin and his team were having dinner. Having made friends with the Maître ’D earlier (I buttered him up with a bottle of Patrick Bodouin Anjou Villages Cabernet Franc ), I was seated next to their table.

I sat down and positioned the Cayman brochure so that it would be seen by Kevin or his crew. Then I ordered a bottle of great wine and waited. They took the bait and one of the guys at the table leaned over and said to me, “Hey, Buddy. That’s a nice car, but why not spring for a real Porsche and get a GT3?”

Now, I knew that the monster GT3 was their car, but I replied, “I leave that car to the professionals. It’s better suited to the racetrack, if you ask me.”

That opened up a great conversation about Porsches and about wine that went late into the night. Kevin waxed poetic about both and I enjoyed his passion on these two great subjects. As the evening was ending, Kevin’s crew chief invited me to visit pit row for a brief tour of their on-track operations. I jumped at the chance and enjoyed every second of it. At the end of the tour, I asked if I could ride along during a check-ride… and was nearly laughed off the track.

Once the crew chief wiped the tears from his eyes, he became very serious. He quickly escorted me away from the pit row, handed me a few bottles of Adobe Road wine, and pushed me toward the security exit. Oh, well. At least I tried. And, at least I walked away with an arm full of Kevin’s excellent wine.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the Daytona Speedway can be seen in this satellite photo.

What the winery says

About This Wine:

Luscious plum and blackberry aromas are touched with notes of vanilla and anise and followed by vivid flavors of rich sweet fruit and cocoa on the palate. There is everything to savor in this wine. Incredibly rich and full-bodied with a velvety palate of waves and waves of flavor, this wine is nirvana for Syrah lovers.

Winemaking:

Hand harvested whole clusters that were cold soaked and fermented in small, open top bins that were punched down twice daily through fermentation and gently basket pressed.

About The Winery:

Adobe Road is a small, family-owned winery located in Petaluma. We specialize in flavorful, distinctive wines. Each of our vintages is handcrafted with fine attention to detail, for a unique taste and experience. Our wines are created in small lots, allowing precise quality control to ensure that every bottle is just the way our wine artisans intended. Traditionally, Adobe Road has produced rich red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, but 2006 brings a lighter Sauvignon Blanc to our tasting room.

Adobe Road Winery is owned by renowned sports car racer and entrepreneur Kevin Buckler and his wife, Debra. Adobe Road Winery produces award winning Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Petite Sirah exclusively from Sonoma County sources. The tasting room is located in Petaluma, California. In 1995 Kevin founded The Racer’s Group (TRG) and grew it into an internationally prominent manufacturer and distributor of performance Porsche parts, while simultaneously building a career as a successful endurance sportscar racer and team owner. Kevin’s accomplishments as a driver include class wins at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (2002) and the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans (2002), an overall win at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (2003), and the title of Porsche World Cup Champion in 2002. As a team owner, Kevin has directed the growth of The Racer’s Group into an internationally-acclaimed racing team.

With friends, the Bucklers started making “garage wine”, which, after prodding from enthusiastic friends started commercially bottling under the Adobe Road label in 1999. Through Kevin’s good connections, he has acquired grapes from some very prestigious vineyards, which he handcrafts into extremely limited-production wines. The awards have followed, with the Adobe Road 2001 Zinfandel winning a Silver medal in the prestigious Orange County Fair Wine Competition. In March of 2005, Adobe Road brought home the gold, with the 2002 Pinot Noir winning a Gold Medal – Best of Class; the 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon placing Silver and the 2002 Zinfandel receiving Bronze at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. With the goal of producing exceptional wines by hand-crafting small lots of red varietals exclusively from Sonoma County, the Bucklers have dedicated themselves to seeing their vision through to reality, and the results are paying off.

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